Casting Seeds on Rock(wool)
Almost everything planted in the greenhouse has sprouted except the things planted in rockwool. Very, very few of them have come up. Another thing learned by experience. Waxed paper cups do not make good pots in a cloche. When used in uncovered flats, they seem to last long enough for the plant to be put in the garden or repotted. The ones I used for starting seeds just dissolved. I can’t even read the label on them. As evil as it is, I bought Styrofoam cups for the new seeds.
Yesterday I repotted and relabeled everything that had sprouted. This morning I planted to replace the things that had been planted in rockwool. I did not throw the rockwool away yet. There still may be hope. Today (Sunday) was a really nasty rainy mess. I am very thankful for the greenhouse so that I wasn’t trapped inside.
The brightest spot in my garden right now is the compost. There was a mountain of leaves picked up on the side of the road. Some of them had been mulched and they were wet and starting to rot. Those went into the compost pile. There were not quite enough leaves to mulch the whole fallow part of the garden. I guess I have to keep scrounging.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com/ , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Post Weekend Update
Post weekend update.
Almost the whole garden is mulched. The greenhouse is pretty much on schedule. There were earthworms in the compost pile. I love earthworms. The items planted in rockwool are still largely un-germinated. I put some items under lights; but I still have a lot of work to do rigging the lights. That will be a good job for Christmas morning.
The greens and salad greens are producing well. My wife and one of my friends is saving the little trays in which the rotisserie chickens are packed. The will be used to make little herb gardens that I can give to people around Easter. They will act like a miniature green house until the weather gets warm enough to repot the herbs or plant them in the yard.
Last nights temperature dropped to 23 degrees. Time to refill the gas bottles. The leaf blower would not start. I was really kind of glad. That is a chore I really hate.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Almost the whole garden is mulched. The greenhouse is pretty much on schedule. There were earthworms in the compost pile. I love earthworms. The items planted in rockwool are still largely un-germinated. I put some items under lights; but I still have a lot of work to do rigging the lights. That will be a good job for Christmas morning.
The greens and salad greens are producing well. My wife and one of my friends is saving the little trays in which the rotisserie chickens are packed. The will be used to make little herb gardens that I can give to people around Easter. They will act like a miniature green house until the weather gets warm enough to repot the herbs or plant them in the yard.
Last nights temperature dropped to 23 degrees. Time to refill the gas bottles. The leaf blower would not start. I was really kind of glad. That is a chore I really hate.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Greenhouse Labor
Greenhouse Labor
The process of replanting the things that have sprouted has started. For the things in rockwool that germinated, the little square was removed and broken to leave the root exposed and the remaining sliver of rockwool and the plant were placed in a paper cup full of dirt. For the things that were already in cups of dirt all I had to do was label them and move them into another flat.
For seeds that have not germinated pure rainwater is used. Once the seeds germinate they get rainwater with compost tea. The compost tea was made by filling an old pillow case with compost and putting it into a 30 gal trashcan full of rainwater. The rain barrels each have a mosquito dunk in them. The mosquito dunks are powered by bacillus thuringiensis. This is a natural pathogen for mosquitoes. I understand that it also affects many other harmful insects. I hope it isn’t too hard on the beneficials.
Outside the greenhouse, the cooking greens and salad greens are doing great. The garden is almost mulched and the camillias are blooming. The purple cabbages are growing very very slowly.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
The process of replanting the things that have sprouted has started. For the things in rockwool that germinated, the little square was removed and broken to leave the root exposed and the remaining sliver of rockwool and the plant were placed in a paper cup full of dirt. For the things that were already in cups of dirt all I had to do was label them and move them into another flat.
For seeds that have not germinated pure rainwater is used. Once the seeds germinate they get rainwater with compost tea. The compost tea was made by filling an old pillow case with compost and putting it into a 30 gal trashcan full of rainwater. The rain barrels each have a mosquito dunk in them. The mosquito dunks are powered by bacillus thuringiensis. This is a natural pathogen for mosquitoes. I understand that it also affects many other harmful insects. I hope it isn’t too hard on the beneficials.
Outside the greenhouse, the cooking greens and salad greens are doing great. The garden is almost mulched and the camillias are blooming. The purple cabbages are growing very very slowly.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Green in the Greenhouse
Green in the Greenhouse
Lots of stuff is coming up in the greenhouse already. I’m getting a few early lessons as well. I planted the basil way too thickly. Most of it is planted several to a pot or in egg cartons. Now it has to be separated. This is very tedious and time consuming. I really love basil though. Almost everything planted in dirt has come up. Very little of the stuff planted in rockwool has. Part of the reason may be that I planted larger seeds in rockwool. They may take longer to germinate.
The fallow part of the garden is getting a 6” layer of leaves. The soil was worked very deeply earlier as the dead and finished plants were pulled off. I think of mulching as making an earthworm heaven. Earthworms are the real heroes of organic gardens. As they move through the soil, they wiggle through the soft earth making tunnels that aerate the ground. When they come to a harder spot, they munch their way through. When they find something organic they eat it. An earthworm produces its weight in “castings” every day. Earthworm castings are some of the richest fertilizer known.
Compost and organic matter are really tasty and attractive to earthworms. Artificial chemical fertilizers are not only yucky tasting. They irritate their soft skin. Make an earthworm heaven in your garden.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Lots of stuff is coming up in the greenhouse already. I’m getting a few early lessons as well. I planted the basil way too thickly. Most of it is planted several to a pot or in egg cartons. Now it has to be separated. This is very tedious and time consuming. I really love basil though. Almost everything planted in dirt has come up. Very little of the stuff planted in rockwool has. Part of the reason may be that I planted larger seeds in rockwool. They may take longer to germinate.
The fallow part of the garden is getting a 6” layer of leaves. The soil was worked very deeply earlier as the dead and finished plants were pulled off. I think of mulching as making an earthworm heaven. Earthworms are the real heroes of organic gardens. As they move through the soil, they wiggle through the soft earth making tunnels that aerate the ground. When they come to a harder spot, they munch their way through. When they find something organic they eat it. An earthworm produces its weight in “castings” every day. Earthworm castings are some of the richest fertilizer known.
Compost and organic matter are really tasty and attractive to earthworms. Artificial chemical fertilizers are not only yucky tasting. They irritate their soft skin. Make an earthworm heaven in your garden.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Getting the Greenhouse Started
Getting the Greenhouse Started
Yesterday morning saw the official beginning of the greenhouse season for this year. There were two flats of rockwool left over from last year. They were used for some of the larger seeds. I made two big mistakes with the rockwool last year. The first was not keeping it wet enough. The second was leaving the plants in it after they sprouted. The plants should be potted in dirt as soon as they sprout and the rock wool needs to be broken open so the roots can grow into the soil.
There will be no Porterhouse Beefsteak tomatoes this year. They make hardy plants with big tomatoes; but they have almost no flavor. I planted: Bloody Butcher and Better Boy tomatoes and I have some seeds from a volunteer from last years garden. I only planted about a dozen each of the seeds; so I can plant a few every 2 weeks. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts and lots of herbs were started as well. I still need to plant some hot peppers and cabbage.
The temperature dropped to 23 degrees Fahrenheit last night so the gas heater had to be fired up. The flats are sitting on heat pads; but why take a chance of stunting the seeds or the plants. I can just taste those tomatoes.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Yesterday morning saw the official beginning of the greenhouse season for this year. There were two flats of rockwool left over from last year. They were used for some of the larger seeds. I made two big mistakes with the rockwool last year. The first was not keeping it wet enough. The second was leaving the plants in it after they sprouted. The plants should be potted in dirt as soon as they sprout and the rock wool needs to be broken open so the roots can grow into the soil.
There will be no Porterhouse Beefsteak tomatoes this year. They make hardy plants with big tomatoes; but they have almost no flavor. I planted: Bloody Butcher and Better Boy tomatoes and I have some seeds from a volunteer from last years garden. I only planted about a dozen each of the seeds; so I can plant a few every 2 weeks. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts and lots of herbs were started as well. I still need to plant some hot peppers and cabbage.
The temperature dropped to 23 degrees Fahrenheit last night so the gas heater had to be fired up. The flats are sitting on heat pads; but why take a chance of stunting the seeds or the plants. I can just taste those tomatoes.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Great Weather for Gardening (in my bed)
Great Weather for Gardening (in my bed)
Reading garden books, ordering seeds for the greenhouse, planning next spring’s perfect garden and searching for new plants and varieties are all great gardening activities for a cold rainy weekend. For the last two years I have planted Burpee’s Porterhouse Beefsteak tomatoes. They are early, huge and prolific. Unfortunately they don’t have much flavor. This year I ordered an heirloom tomato called “Bloody Butcher”. They have a very short maturity time and produce tomatoes that are about 2” in diameter. That is a little bigger than grape or patio tomatoes; but smaller than a Marglobe. Marglobes and some seed from last years best volunteers will provide regular tomatoes for canning and salads. Better Boys will be for sandwiches.
I did get to play in the yard all day on Thursday (Thanksgiving). I managed to break almost all of my toys. Neither lawn more, nor by leaf blower would start. I burned up the motor on my electric chain saw. I did get a lot done though. The leaf blower is fixed and the lawn mowers are in the shop. I got a new electric chain saw. The garden grew by about 200 square feet. The grapes, asparagus and strawberries have weedless beds and a nice top-dressing of about 2” of compost. If the rain stops today I will lay off the rows, test the soil and mulch the nice wet ground.
It is amazing how much the grapevines and figs have grown this year. They have gone dormant and should be pruned pretty soon. The grapevines will be cut back pretty severely since this is their first year. The figs, of course, will go back to the same height as last year. That is about eye level. They will be a lot wider than last year however.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Reading garden books, ordering seeds for the greenhouse, planning next spring’s perfect garden and searching for new plants and varieties are all great gardening activities for a cold rainy weekend. For the last two years I have planted Burpee’s Porterhouse Beefsteak tomatoes. They are early, huge and prolific. Unfortunately they don’t have much flavor. This year I ordered an heirloom tomato called “Bloody Butcher”. They have a very short maturity time and produce tomatoes that are about 2” in diameter. That is a little bigger than grape or patio tomatoes; but smaller than a Marglobe. Marglobes and some seed from last years best volunteers will provide regular tomatoes for canning and salads. Better Boys will be for sandwiches.
I did get to play in the yard all day on Thursday (Thanksgiving). I managed to break almost all of my toys. Neither lawn more, nor by leaf blower would start. I burned up the motor on my electric chain saw. I did get a lot done though. The leaf blower is fixed and the lawn mowers are in the shop. I got a new electric chain saw. The garden grew by about 200 square feet. The grapes, asparagus and strawberries have weedless beds and a nice top-dressing of about 2” of compost. If the rain stops today I will lay off the rows, test the soil and mulch the nice wet ground.
It is amazing how much the grapevines and figs have grown this year. They have gone dormant and should be pruned pretty soon. The grapevines will be cut back pretty severely since this is their first year. The figs, of course, will go back to the same height as last year. That is about eye level. They will be a lot wider than last year however.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
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